Total U.S. Consumer Debt Outside Mortgages Was $5.2 trillion in August 2026
Americans owed $5.2 trillion in consumer credit in August 2026, little changed from the month before. This includes credit cards and other borrowing outside mortgages.
What Is the Current Level of U.S. Consumer Debt?
Consumer credit outstanding was $5.2 trillion in August 2026, little changed from $5.19 trillion in July 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System's G.19 release. That's the highest in current dollars in data back to 1943. It covers credit cards, auto loans, student loans and other non-mortgage credit held by lenders; it's a total, not an amount per person. Credit card balances were $1.26 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, according to the New York Fed; credit card debt statistics has the averages, who carries a balance and every state.
The credit card delinquency rate at commercial banks was 2.9%, the same as in Q1 2026, the charge-off rate was 3.8%, the same as in Q1 2026, and 5.49% of auto loan balances were 90 or more days late, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025. The American Distress Index tracks all three as direct inputs, reading 47.0 (Typical) in Q2 2026. The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.
At a Glance
The American Distress Index read 47.0 (Typical) in Q2 2026. The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005. Consumer debt metrics run through several of the index's domains — credit card and auto loan delinquency feed the Delinquency domain, charge-offs feed Default & Legal, and the debt service ratio is the Debt Burden domain's input.
How High Is Credit Card Delinquency?
The delinquency rate on credit card loans at commercial banks was 2.9% in the second quarter of 2026, the same as in Q1 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (data retrieved via FRED). That's down from 3% a year earlier. It's the lowest since Q2 2023. Comparisons start in 2010, when accounting rules brought securitized card loans onto bank books.
In research run on October 13, 2026, American Default Research found credit-card delinquency leading all-loan charge-offs by 3 quarters at r = 0.66. That pair-specific historical result is not a forecast of future losses. The outside-top-100 and top-100 bank breakdown is another descriptive view with explicitly defined commercial-bank populations.
Credit card delinquency at U.S. commercial banks is the lowest since the second quarter of 2023
Delinquency rate on credit card loans, all U.S. commercial banks. Quarterly, the first quarter of 1991 to the second quarter of 2026.
Readings before 2010 are on a different accounting basis.
Full data and trend: Credit card delinquency rate indicator page (The Late Fee)
How Much Credit Card Debt Are Banks Writing Off?
Banks charged off credit card balances at an annualized rate of 3.8% of average balances in the second quarter of 2026, down from 4.2% a year earlier, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (data retrieved via FRED). That's the lowest since Q3 2023.
A charge-off is a loan the bank removes from its books as a loss; the rate is net of recoveries. Bank regulators' policy is for card balances to be charged off once they are 180 days past due, so charge-offs and delinquency measure different stages, with different numerators. Neither rate is a share of cardholders.
The credit card charge-off rate at U.S. commercial banks is the lowest since the third quarter of 2023
Annualized charge-off rate on credit card loans, all U.S. commercial banks. Quarterly, the first quarter of 1985 to the second quarter of 2026.
Readings before 2010 are on a different accounting basis.
Full data and trend: Charge-Off Rate indicator page
How High Is Auto Loan Delinquency?
The share of auto loan balances 90 or more days past due was 5.49% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. That's the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003.
An auto loan is secured by the vehicle, so serious delinquency can end in repossession. This series doesn't count repossessions or borrowers, though; it's a share of balances, and it can rise because old delinquent debt stays on credit reports, not only because more people are newly falling behind.
Auto loan delinquency is higher than a year earlier
Share of U.S. auto loan balances 90 or more days delinquent. Quarterly, the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2026.
Full data and trend: Auto Loan Delinquency indicator page | Companion: Auto Loan Delinquency Statistics
What Is the Student Loan Delinquency Rate?
The share of student loan balances 90 or more days delinquent was 10.6% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 10.16% in Q2 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Household Debt and Credit Report. That's the highest of the 5 quarters in the comparable series, which starts in 2025. It's a share of balances, not of borrowers.
Read this series with its reporting history. From 2020 through 2024, federal student loans were generally reported as current on credit reports, so missed federal payments didn't show up; the New York Fed says late federal payments were reported again from the first quarter of 2025. The Q4 2025 figure also carries over the prior quarter's status for borrowers transferred to the Education Department's Default Resolution Group. For those reasons, comparisons here start in 2025, and earlier readings are levels under different rules, not a trend. For the full chronology, see student loan default statistics.
Student loan delinquency is higher than a year earlier
Share of U.S. student loan balances 90 or more days delinquent. Quarterly, the first quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2026.
Full data and trend: Student Loan Delinquency indicator page
How Much Consumer Credit Is Outstanding?
Total consumer credit outstanding — credit cards and other revolving credit, plus auto loans, student loans and other installment credit, but not mortgages or home equity lines — was $5.2 trillion in August 2026, little changed from $5.19 trillion in July 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (data retrieved via FRED). That's the highest in current dollars in data back to 1943. The latest month is preliminary and is revised in later releases.
It counts dollars held by lenders, not what any one household owes. The average purchase APR on general-purpose credit card accounts at a panel of commercial banks was 21.19% in the third quarter of 2026, little changed from 21.39% in Q3 2025. Buy Now, Pay Later requires a separate denominator. The New York Fed says reported pay-in-four loans may appear in its “other” credit-report category while many are not reported. Annual BNPL lending is not a point-in-time balance, so it can't be added to the consumer-credit total on this page. See our BNPL measurement guide for the distinction.
Full data and trend: Total Consumer Credit indicator page
Data Sources and Methodology
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Credit card delinquency and charge-off rates from the Charge-Off and Delinquency Rates on Loans and Leases at Commercial Banks release, compiled from bank Call Reports. Total consumer credit outstanding from the G.19 Consumer Credit statistical release, published monthly and retrieved via FRED.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel
Credit card balances, auto loan delinquency, and student loan delinquency from the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, based on a random sample of Equifax credit files drawn from its 5% Consumer Credit Panel (0.1% for most loan types, 1% for student loans).
American Distress Index
Consumer debt metrics contribute to the Delinquency (20.0% weight) and Debt Burden (20.0% weight) domains of the American Distress Index, which scores 10 measures of household financial distress. For the full picture including mortgages, auto, and student loans, see household debt statistics. For interest rates on this debt, see the credit conditions roundup. For borrowers struggling with debt servicer practices, see complaint data for JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, U.S. Bank, and 73 other servicers.
We write with assistance from AI tools. Figures come from the data and sources named on this page.
Questions about consumer debt
How much consumer debt is outstanding in the U.S.?
Total U.S. consumer credit outstanding was $5.2 trillion in August 2026, little changed from $5.19 trillion in July 2026, according to the Federal Reserve. For credit card balances, averages and who carries one, see credit card debt statistics. The Fed's total includes credit cards, auto loans, student loans, and other non-mortgage consumer credit — but not mortgages. It's a total held by lenders, not an average per person.
What is the current credit card delinquency rate?
The credit card delinquency rate at commercial banks was 2.9% in the second quarter of 2026, the same as in Q1 2026, according to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (data retrieved via FRED). That's the lowest since Q2 2023. The charge-off rate — balances banks wrote off as losses, annualized — was 3.8%, the same as in Q1 2026.
What does the auto-loan delinquency series show?
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that 5.49% of auto-loan balances were 90 or more days delinquent in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.99% in Q2 2025. That's the second-highest of the 94 quarters in data back to 2003. For the full series and historical context, see our auto-loan delinquency statistics.
What happened to student loan balance delinquency after the payment pause?
The share of student loan balances 90 or more days delinquent was 10.6% in the second quarter of 2026, up from 10.16% in Q2 2025. This is a balance-level rate, not a share of borrowers. From 2020 through 2024, federal student loans were generally reported as current on credit reports; the New York Fed says late federal payments were reported again from the first quarter of 2025. Readings before and after that change are levels under different reporting rules, not a like-for-like trend.
How does consumer debt connect to the American Distress Index?
Consumer debt metrics feed three of the index's five domains. Credit card and auto loan delinquency are inputs to the Delinquency domain, charge-offs feed the Default & Legal domain, and the debt service ratio is the Debt Burden domain's input. The index read 47.0 (Typical) in Q2 2026. The composite itself sits higher than 44% of all published quarters since 2005.